


The Five Times Shepard Called Anderson "Dad"

by LeahNoLiah



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Colonist (Mass Effect), F/M, Father-Daughter Relationship, Mass Effect - Freeform, Mass Effect 2, Mass Effect 3, Mindoir, Platonic Relationships, shepard is anderson's kid and we all know it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-29
Updated: 2018-11-29
Packaged: 2019-09-01 23:45:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16775335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeahNoLiah/pseuds/LeahNoLiah
Summary: No matter what gender or what background, we all know Shepard sees Anderson as a father figure. This specific work explores the relationship between David Anderson and colonist-born female!Shepard.





	1. Chapter 1

The first time was definitely unexpected; not just because she had called him dad but also because it was the first time she had shown any real emotion since they had found her. She was only sixteen when her home on Mindoir was raided by batarian slavers. She was asleep when it happened; gun shots woke her up, the screams of her friends and neighbors were loud enough to shake the planet, the fire from the burning houses and crop fields made the atmosphere glow a bright orange. By the time she had gotten out of bed, batarians invaded her home and started shooting. Her mother was the first to die -a clean gunshot to her head. Then it was her father who had died. Shepard's fight or flight instincts kicked in and she had made a break for it.  
  
The batarians chased after her, shooting at her as she skirmished through the fires in the streets. She watched as Janie, a friend from school, exploded on a grenade. Her neighbors, a newly wed couple with a baby on the way, burned alive in their own front yard. A young child screamed in horror as batarians shot at his parents, splattering him with their blood. Others in the street were being huddled together by a batarian with a whip.  
  
Shepard ran until another batarian had rammed into her and knocked her to the ground. Tears blurred her vision and her throat was red from screaming. She was afraid he'd kill her right then and there, in the streets, in her pajamas. Instead, he dragged her by her hair to the group of huddled colonists. The batarian there had whipped at her, tearing the skin of her back. She felt the blood seep through the cotton fabric of her shirt.  
  
The group was then ushered into one of the harvesting facilities where the batarians had apparently set up base. Shepard spent days locked in a literal cage, watching as one by one the other colonists were experimented on. The batarians picked at their brains, forced a brownish liquid into the heads of the victims. Most had died from the experimentation but others had become indoctrinated. The four-eyed aliens then forced the indoctrinated to slaughter each other. Cuts and bruises littered her body from the whipping. A rather nasty slice on her leg had gotten infected, forcing pain to shoot through her nerves whenever she moved it. She hadn't eaten since the night they came and she was feeling the effects of starvation.  
  
Still, the sounds of shooting didn't stop outside. The screaming had subsided eventually though. They must have killed most of the colonists or are hunting down those who tried to escape. Shepard was dragged out of her cage by the same batarian who had been beating her the last few days. He had thrown her to the ground, kicked her chest, and then threw some sort of liquid onto her. Immediately, her skin had started burning and she screamed. Her voice was raw now. A frightening whisper was the only sound she was able to make now. But even that little squeak of a sound was too much to the batarian who had kicked and whipped her again.  
  
Shepard prayed for death. She couldn't fight anymore. There was nothing left to fight _for_. Her parents were dead. Her friends were dead. The entire colony was dead. All that remained was her and a handful of people who were worse for wear. If they weren't already indoctrinated, they were hanging on by their last breath of life. Shepard just wanted it all to end. She wanted the pain to stop.  
  
More gun shots ricocheted around the facility. _Maybe this is it_ , she thought to herself. _Maybe they'll finally kill us_. But that didn't happen. Alliance soldiers had infiltrated the base, shooting practically everything. Shepard curled in on herself and watched on as a dozen soldiers attempted to take on five times as many batarians. The Alliance soldiers had quickly started falling. A couple more entered, taking place of their fallen comrades. While half of them shot at anything that moved, the other half tried to get the colonists to safety.  
  
She felt one of the soldiers carry her out of the facility. She watched over his shoulder as the last of his fellow soldiers dropped dead and then the world fell away as she was carried onto a ship. From there, she was hastily treated by ship medics until they docked on Earth and rushed her to a hospital. The shock had finally wore off and she passed out.  
  
Anderson was only a Lieutenant at the time, stationed back on Earth for the time being, when he heard of what happened and that the only survivor of Mindoir was in the hospital. Stories of Mindoir filtered among the Alliance. Incoherent babbling from the ptsd-stricken soldiers who were there only provided a few details. It was curiosity, pity, and duty that brought him to her and since then he stuck by her side. He looked after her while she was recovering from her injuries. He was with her through the therapy to help her with her trauma. He was there when she joined the Alliance. He watched her blossom into a young woman, a strong woman, who had a heart of gold.  
  
And still, it was a surprise when that one little word slipped past her lips. Now Captain of the SSV Normandy, he had asked her to be his XO. She saluted, smiled up at him, and said " _It'd be an honor, dad._ " If she knew of her slip up, she either didn't care or was a damn good liar and pretended she didn't notice. But it didn't go unnoticed by those around them. Jeff Moreau, the newly appointed pilot of the Normandy, had heard it. " _Um what?_ " he asked, confused. " _Did you just call him dad?_ " Shepard looked just as confused as he was. " _No, I said David._ " she replied, looking from the pilot to her new CO. Anderson was at a loss for words and Shepard seemed to realize she had made a mistake. " _Sorry, too informal. It'd be an honor, Sir._ " she corrected and saluted again. Anderson shook his head, clearing the shock from his mind, and saluted back. There was no need to correct her.


	2. Chapter 2

Two years. Two years had gone by and Anderson was drowning in bureaucratic crap on top of the emotional shit. He hadn't given it much thought before and he wasn't sure why it was weighing on him now. She had called him dad. She thought of him as a father. Anderson felt an overwhelming since of guilt over her death. She looked up to him for guidance and protection and he just let her slip through his fingers. He was always close with Shepard ever since she was taken from Mindoir. He was the only person Shepard trusted enough to cry around when things got too tough on her. He'd hold her at arms length, tell her she will conquer whatever it is that's pulling her down, that she's stronger and braver than any soldier. She'd smile, thank him, and often hug him. He cared for her. And then she was gone and he couldn't help but blame himself.  
  
Until rumors started up that she was back and working with Cerberus. He first heard it when human colonies started disappearing and Alliance soldiers suspected it was Cerberus's doing. He then heard it from Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko who came back from his mission on Horizon. Shepard was there with Cerberus, he said. She was a traitor, he said. Anderson had half a mind to smack him. Shepard is a god damn hero who didn't deserve the false defamation of her character.  
  
But at least she was alive and he needed to see her. He sent her a message claiming she needed to clear her name with the council but deep down he sent it just so he could see for himself that the rumors were true and, if they were, that she wasn't a Cerberus clone. And when she stepped into his office, flanked by a familiar turian, he immediately knew that it was her.  
  
" _Shepard. It's good to see you._ " he had said. She opened her arms and hugged him without warning. He hugged her back just as tightly.  
  
" _Good to see you too, dad._ " she returned the greeting, unaware of her choice of wording. He heard it though. He heard it loud and clear. By look of Garrus's down-turned head, he heard it too though he didn't comment on it. Garrus was a good soldier who knew his place and this wasn't his place. Anderson never brought it up to her nor did she ever give any indication that she knew.  
  
Anderson gave her all the support he could from the sidelines. As Councilor, he had a job to do on the Citadel. As much as he wanted to follow her across the galaxy, he couldn't. So he stayed and watched her go. He watched her be the hero he knew she was. And he was proud of her.


	3. Chapter 3

Shepard knew this very well could be it. She could be leading all of them to their deaths by going after the collectors but this was the only way. It was the only way to rescue the crew -if they were even still alive- and to stop the collectors for good. She had no idea what to do. She felt lost and scared. As much as she hated Cerberus, she had grown to love the missing crew. They had been lured in by the Illusive Man only to be set up and lured into a trap. The crew had realized their faulty ties and then turned to Shepard for guidance. And she accepted them. They were her crew. And now they were gone -taken. Shepard blamed herself. She should've been there. They were most likely dead because of her negligence.  
  
It was the first time since Mindoir she had felt so helpless. Her mind swam with thoughts of self-doubt. What if she fails? What if she just makes things worse by going there? She had no one to talk to on the ship. The remaining crew was relying on her. They couldn't see her crack like this. She had to keep her head held high in front of them. It's what Captains do -they put on a smiling face and pretend that everything's alright all while being eaten alive from the inside out, slowly and painfully. Shepard had no one to turn to on the ship. So she went to the comm room.  
  
Only one person could help so she sent him a message to his terminal on the Citadel, telling him she needed to speak with him immediately. She only hoped he'd get the message in time before they went through the Omega-4 Relay. Despite all the wrongs that have happened recently, at least one god was looking down on her with pity because Anderson had replied within a minute telling her he'd be waiting for her call. She opened a visual comm link and Anderson lit up in a blue pixelated image. She could see he still wore his blues, no doubt still dealing with council crap.  
  
Anderson noticed Shepard's distress. He could tell just from the message alone that she sent to his private terminal. " _I need to see you, it's an emergency. Please._ " it had read. Anderson's heart dropped into his stomach. The Council wanted a follow up on their previous meeting but Anderson pushed them off with some half-asses excuse and made his way to a comm, replying to Shepard's message telling her he's waiting. He never hit a button as hard as he did when Shepard requested a call.  
  
The Commander's shoulders were slouched, her eyes were glossed over with unshed tears, and he could read the terror written all over her face. He hadn't seen her like this in a long time. It hurt him. He couldn't stop the small " _Shepard_ " that escaped his lips when he first saw her light up in the room.  
  
" _I don't know what to do._ " she meekly admitted. She rambled off on the situation, telling him of the missing crew and how she might not make it back from this mission. She admitted how scared she felt.  
  
" _Shepard, if there's anyone in this universe that can see this through and come back alive, it's you. You've already defied death once. Hell, you saw the Devil and beat him down. I know you can do this. I believe in you._ " he consoled. And he meant every single word he said.  
  
" _What do I do? Tell me what to do._ "  
  
" _You do what you do best -you fight. With every breath in your body. You fight hard, you fight with vengeance, and you make sure those sons o' bitches think twice before attacking again._ "  
  
" _What if I don't make it back?_ " she asked.  
  
" _There's no what if's about that, Shepard. You WILL make it back. You WILL come home, head held high, ready to accept apologies from the Council and any bullshit medals they award you to make up for the fact that they brushed you and your warnings aside. You can do this, Shepard. I never had any doubt about you since you were rescued from Mindoir. You're stronger and braver than even me._ "  
  
" _I don't feel strong or brave._ "  
  
" _You are. Give 'em hell, kid. And you contact me as soon as you make it back._ " he said.  
  
" _I promise. Thanks, dad._ " she replied, a small smile on her face. Anderson wasn't as shocked anymore. Maybe he half expected her to say it, maybe he wanted her to. It still turned his brain to mush though and he was unable to reply with words. So he smiled at her, saluted her, and waited for a salute back before disconnecting the call. He had no doubt about Shepard. She was going to kick the collectors in the ass and she was going to come home. He just knew it.


	4. Chapter 4

Anderson knew being grounded infuriated Shepard. She risked her life, _again_ , to save _their_ lives and how do they repay her? They ground her. They impound the Normandy, arrest Shepard for something stupid, strip her of her Spectre and soldier status, and put her and the rest of the crew on lock down. Shepard was on house arrest, Joker was followed everywhere by Alliance officials, the Cerberus crew were in actual jail on actual trial for actual crimes of terrorism. All of it was just one shitstorm after another.  
  
Shepard didn't take too well to the arrest. She became bitter and antsy. Anderson felt her frustration wash over him every time he went to visit her in the apartment the Alliance locked her in. Lieutenant James Vega was her escort who was in charge of keeping an eye on her. So he followed Shepard and Anderson down to the gym every time. He was a nice guy, Anderson mused, and often kept out of their business. He was just doing his job.  
  
Anderson took Shepard down to the gym as soon as he had some free time. It'd been awhile since they last went and she was getting antsy. Vega trailed behind them and stood off to the side while Shepard took to punching a punching bag and Anderson went to the weights.  
  
" _Fucking arrest me. I saved their asses._ " she'd mutter to herself in between punches. She'd punch and grunt and swear until her knuckles bled through the wrappings and coated the punching bag in red. Anderson got up from the bench and made his way towards her, inspecting her injuries. She didn't fight him.  
  
" _Although I shouldn't say it out loud, I agree with you, Shepard._ " Anderson muttered, peeling away the last of the wrappings. " _Go wash up_." Shepard went to the connected bathroom and washed her hands.  
  
" _I risk my fucking life for them. Should've let the collectors come for them and see if they still want to arrest me._ "  
  
" _You're right. I'm behind you 100 percent. I think this is ludicrous, I just can't do anything about it._ "  
  
" _Aren't you a councilor? Last time I checked, I appointed you! Why can't you do anything!_ " she screamed at him, emerging from the bathroom. She wiped at her knuckles with a towel.  
  
" _This goes beyond the Council, Shepard, and you know it. It's the Council, the Alliance, the entirety of your military career. Not like the Council would listen to me anyway._ "  
  
" _This is bullshit! I don't deserve this!_ "  
  
" _I know you don't. And no matter what happens with this hearing, I'm with you. Always. Like I've always been and like I always will be._ " he offered calmly. Shepard approached him. With her twisted up angry expression, Anderson assumed she wanted a real fight. But, like always, she surprised him by jumping into his arms and hugging him. He rubbed her back and let her release every pent up emotion she had been holding back. Tears soaked through his casual shirt as she went back and forth from crying to screaming.  
  
" _I'm gonna.... I'm gonna step outside._ " Anderson heard Lieutenant Vega say, mostly to himself, and then heard the gym door open and close behind him.  
  
Shepard clung to Anderson like her life depended on it. And, for a small part, it did. Anderson had been the only thing in her life that kept her standing. He was always there when she needed him, always provided answers to questions even he was confused on, supported her through everything. She'd be lost without him.  
  
" _Why does everything have to go wrong with ME? Why ME? What did I ever do?_ " she asked and then sniffled.  
  
" _Because the universe knows just how strong you are, Shepard. You're thrown obstacle after obstacle because whatever gods there are know that you can overcome them._ "  
  
" _Really? Cause it feels like the universe just wants to tear me down._ "  
  
" _You know what you do then? You look the universe dead on and you tell it to piss off. Because you're stronger than anything it can ever throw at you._ "  
  
Shepard sniffled once more before pulling away and wiping at her eyes which were now red and puffy. She'd kill anyone that caught her like this. God, nothing just ever went right for her. Sometimes she'd ask herself where she went wrong. Maybe it all started out that night on Mindoir. She should've died along with her friends and family. That's where it went wrong. She escaped death and now the universe was trying to get back at her.  
  
" _Do you just pull these things out of your ass or do you write them down first and wait for me to complain?_ " she asked him. Anderson had laughed at that, pulling her back into his chest for another hug.  
  
" _It comes with age, kid. You'll understand when you're older._ "  
  
" _Thanks, dad. I don't know where I'd be without you._ "  
  
Anderson smiled this time. In truth, he'd come to love it when she called him dad. He'd be lying to himself if he said he didn't see her as a daughter. She was the only family he had -his wife Cynthia had divorced him years ago, he had no biological children to call his own, he never talked to his own family anymore. Shepard was all he had. And damn it he wouldn't change any of it.  
  
" _You'd be just fine, kid. You'd be just fine._ " he replied and placed a tender kiss on her head.


	5. Chapter 5

Anderson's chest burned with each inhale of air. It hurt to move. He accepted that he had only a few more moments of life left. He was glad he could spend them with her.  
  
" _It's beautiful up here._ " he commented, looking out into the sky. And it was true. There something sinister about it -beauty in the face of destruction. The sky had glowed the brightest blue he had ever seen. The destruction was mystical, something you'd see only once in a lifetime.  
  
" _Best seats in the house._ " Shepard replied, slumped down onto the ground next to him. She sported her own set of injuries, hanging onto life by a mere thread. It pained him to see her hurting. None of this should have ever happened. They should all be home right now. Shepard should be complaining about the Council right about now. She should be complaining to him about something or other. She was so young. She didn't deserve to die like this.  
  
But if he had to die, he's grateful to see her one last time. The last beautiful thing before it's over. He tried to speak to her but he sputtered on the blood filling his mouth. It burned. Everything burned. He could see her looking at him from the corner of his eye. She didn't need to see this. He swallowed and put on a brave face for her. He grabbed her hand.  
  
" _You did good, kid. You did good. I'm proud of you._ " he whispered. His vision had started to go bleary. The edges around the corner of his eyes got fuzzy. This was it. It was finally over.  
  
" _Thank you, dad. For everything._ " he heard her voice come and go, he felt her head rest on his shoulder. With the last bit of strength he had, he leaned over and pressed a kiss to her head. He felt her squeeze his hand, begging him to stay with her, to not leave her. He didn't want to leave her. He tried to hold out but it hurt. He closed his eyes, reveling in the relief it provided. He gave in to the darkness that consumed him, promising to be there when the time came for her.


End file.
